GSK TO INVEST £400M IN CAMBRIDGE R&D CAMPUS, LEAVE STEVENAGE

GSK will invest £400 million over three years to establish a global research and development headquarters on Cambridge Biomedical Campus, relocating its R&D operations from Stevenage after 30 years of operations there. The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals company will occupy a 300,000 square foot site currently in development by property group Prologis and employ more than 1,000 scientists at the new facility. Staff will move from Stevenage in a phased transition by 2029. GSK employs 1,800 people at its Stevenage site in Hertfordshire and will offer other roles at its facility in Ware, Hertfordshire, where it plans to upgrade existing R&D laboratories and create integrated drug development and commercial manufacturing capability.

Chief executive Luke Miels, who took office in January, announced the move alongside a wider strategic restructuring designed to generate £1.9 billion in savings over three years. The company will redirect some savings towards late-stage drug trials and operating margins, whilst deploying technology and artificial intelligence to offset headcount reductions. GSK did not disclose the total number of staff affected by job cuts, which are expected globally. The Cambridge relocation places GSK alongside AstraZeneca, which moved its R&D operations there from Cheshire in a £1.1 billion investment. Cambridge Biomedical Campus currently hosts more than 22,000 people and approximately 470 biotech and artificial intelligence companies.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham, a former health secretary, welcomed the investment as boosting "home-grown innovation and expertise". Life sciences forms one of eight key sectors within the government's industrial strategy. Foreign direct investment in UK life sciences fell to £795 million in 2023, 58 per cent below 2017 levels, according to the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. GSK will retain its global corporate headquarters in London's Knowledge Quarter.